Boo. I think it is a yeast infection. And it is Saturday so I'll have to wait til Monday. It's not super- bad, but sex was a little uncomfortable so I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Hopefully that doesn't make it worse!! Don't think I can do my yogurt/ tampon trick when pregnant, right??

Thanks for the well wishes from all. I saw my doc yesterday, the primary urine screen came back negative, and I'm feeling much better, so likely that baby girl was just smushed up against my bladder, periodically doin' a little dance. Ow.

The negative though is that due to the intense crampiness/pressure in my abdomen, I wasn't drinking enough water, and I've had a severe flare up of sausage feet syndrome again, so bad the only shoes I was able to wear yesterday were flip flops. And it's not just my feet, my whole body has totally swollen and I've morphed into a giant puff monster (and am oddly smooth and soft, which Mr. thinks is super neat). Gained 8 pounds in water in two weeks, yak. Blood pressure is totally normal though, no protein in urine, cervix closed and buggo safely nestled inside, just damn uncomfortable and pushing lots of fluids.

Postponed road trip til monday to let the swelling ease a bit and make sure everything goes down with rest and water, a little bummed but no way I should be sitting in a car for eight hours in this condition.

Hope everyone else is well, sorry for the bummy post. Needed to complain a bit! (again)

p.s. - kitty, don't fret about the spotting, sounds exactly like the kind they tell you not to worry about!

kitty, i had spotting on and off until only a couple of weeks ago (i'm at 10 weeks now). that's when cramping seemed to end too. do you still have any minor cramps? my doc said tiny spotting was possible. but i agree with zelda, check in with your doc.

luleey, i dunno about MSG but my friend lent me a book about what to eat/what not to eat. i'll see what that says. i'm trying to stay away from extra saltiness since i'm a balloon over here already. zelda, i hope the bloat subsides like it did for you. thanks.

eyelet, i'm new since you'd been here last year...... please tell us about your baby!

Hey, eyelet! Good to hear from you...please come back and visit from time to time.

Kitty, there is no such thing as TMI on this thread.

I wouldn't worry too much, but to feel reassured, call your doctor. That is what he or she is there for. No question too small or too big.

I myself never had any spotting in the first trimester, but I've heard of plenty of women who have. I think if it's not bright red and accompanied by cramping and pain, it should be okay. It may be leftover implantation bleeding or a sensitive cervix (did you have sex recently?)....call your doc to get a reassuring okay and keep monitoring the discharge. But honestly, I think you're just fine.

Today I had extremely light pinkish discharge. In fact, I only noticed it was light pink after I had wiped with white toilet paper. And I mean EXTREMELY light pink. On my underwear it just looked white. Is this OK? I keep reading everywhere that it should just be white. I'm going into my 7th week and totally paranoid. I have no unusual cramping and still have my other symptoms. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Wow, there are a lot of preggos on here now! I am an alumnus from last year and only really know a few of you guys. Huge congrats Funnybird! I'm so glad it's going okay. And I'm very excited for you too Zelda as you approach the big day. I'm going through annual rituals now here in March/April that take me back to where I was a year ago, having my baby shower and beginning that final stretch of impossible largeness. Once the baby arrived I've never felt time pass so quickly! I truly can't believe we're approaching 10 months. It has been a great experience so far, not nearly as complex as I expected. Now we sleep full nights and life is in more of a natural rhythm. I don't have much time for introspection or writing on the internet, but I'm very happy. I wish you all the best of luck and will check in as often as I can to see how it's all going.

My nausea is totally freakin gone and it's kind of good, but, like others have echoed, it's like wait, what happened! Of course I'm still bloated with huge boobs and peeing all the time so that's some comfort!

As for UTI's, Aphelendra, I'm prone to them too and hope I don't get one. If you haven't already, get some Uva Ursi (Bearberry) tincture and keep it at home. If you feel any twinges in your bladder that could be an infection coming on, I'd take some. It's helped me keep them at bay in the past, and my SIL was fighting them all through her second pregnancy and had some success using the Uva. Of course, sometimes the infection is too strong or comes on so suddenly you just have to get antibiotics. One I had last year was so bad it took two rounds of two different kinds and I was sick as a dog. That's hilarious about the Scientologist parking lot, though, Funny! Yeah, it's pretty bad to be a non-US citizen and sick in these here parts. Stay where you are...maybe someday I'll join you!

Had a look at a hospital that has a midwife birthing center and am considering switching...I'll wait to see how the next u/s goes at the regular Dr in a couple weeks though.

Not looking forward to the foot swelling and seeing all my lovely shoes languishing on the floor while I waddle around in Crocs, Julie...let's hope they still fit in 9 months! God knows I'm trying to wear each and every pair while I still can, which looks pretty stupid sometimes at the grocery store!

BTW, any thoughts from you Busties on eating foods wirth MSG? From what I hear I should be avoiding it or eating it in small quantities, but I'm curious what you think. Thanks!

Unsweetened cranberry juice really can work to nip that UTI in the bud before it turns into something ugly.At the first sign of infection, I go for some Northland brand (it's hard to find the unsweetened stuff); Northland is the only unsweetened, 100% juice based brand I see in the regular grocery stores. This has worked wonders for me and kept me from needing antibiotics. Hope you feel better soon, UTIs can be such a bitch.

QUOTE(aphelendra @ Apr 1 2010, 04:40 PM)

Funny (the adjective, not the person) that this should come up this week. I think I have a dreaded UTI. Earlier today I peed 3 times in 30 minutes with no relief. The doctor could not call back fast enough . . . . . And of course, perfect timing, seeing as I have an eight hour drive to make saturday morning.

Funny (person, not adjective) I'm so glad to hear the good news and am quite sure all will continue to be well.

Julie, thanks for the reassurance, and may I just take a moment to commiserate? Why sausage feet, oh why oh why do you hurt so damn much???

--------------------

"The U.S. is the only nation on Earth to pass from barbarism into decadence without once passing through an era of civilization."

I have never in my life had a UTI, BUT before I did have insane yeast infections for years...like one every other month or something.

I pee a lot even when I'm not pregnant...I'm wondering if the constant flush of pee has prevented me from getting one. I don't know. My mom has never had one either. I pee a LOT and my pee is always pale, pale yellow.

Aphelendra, I hope you feel better soon!

Nickclick, the bloating does subside for the most part - it did for me. My first trimester I thought I was going to take off I was so bloated. I was passing gas constantly, and I didn't care who heard or smelled, I was that bloated. But around 12 or 13 weeks it left me and fortunately hasn't returned (although I've had constipation on and off).

Baby Elliott is moving and grooving, and my fatigue is growing! Today I have the day off and need to go find a few more maternity tops. Now that it's getting warm here, I need more short sleeve stuff. Also going to get a bunch of stuff and pack my bag for the hospital. Figure I might as well get it ready while I can! This coming Tuesday is my breastfeeding class, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Ugh, aphelendra, I'm a frequent sufferer of UTIs so I feel your pain (my worst was on a road trip too, across the south-west US. It lead to my one-and-only experience of US healthcare, where 5 minutes in the emergency room to get some antibiotics cost me more than my plane ticket. On the plus side, I was forced to pee in the parking lot of the Scientologist's Austin headquarters. Ha! Take that Xenu!). My heart sank when I read how common they were in pregnancy. I really hope you get some fast working medication straight away.

Funny (the adjective, not the person) that this should come up this week. I think I have a dreaded UTI. Earlier today I peed 3 times in 30 minutes with no relief. The doctor could not call back fast enough . . . . . And of course, perfect timing, seeing as I have an eight hour drive to make saturday morning.

Funny (person, not adjective) I'm so glad to hear the good news and am quite sure all will continue to be well.

Julie, thanks for the reassurance, and may I just take a moment to commiserate? Why sausage feet, oh why oh why do you hurt so damn much???

Kitty...you pee a lot in the beginning because of hormones and your kidneys starting to work overdrive. You pee more in the third trimester because the baby is pressing on your bladder. The pee drive abates a bit (a BIT) in the second tri...FYI.

I seem to be having an easy time of things so far. My only symptoms have been : really tireda little more hungryalready having to pee more? Seems to early, but who knows?really thirstybreasts swollen and tendervery mild cramping and a bit of that dull achy feeling in the lower abs that Zelda mentioned

I'm thankful my symptoms are so mild though I must say I wish I had a few more so that I felt REALLY pregnant! I took another test (somewhere on the internet it recommended taking another one a week later). Still positive I have my first appointment April 15th, so I should be 8.5 weeks then. Hopefully they do an ultrasound then because seeing a little heartbeat would make me feel loads better!!

And I even think that cramping is another good sign, funny...babybird is getting all nestled in tight in your uterus for a long 40-week stay. And believe me, by the third tri it will really start to feel looooong! :-)

Thank you so much for all the good wishes (and sorry about the hysteria and swearing).

I had the scan, and the babybird is just fine - a little fuzzy, wriggling bean with a tiny flickering dot of a heart. He / she is 17.7mm long, has a heart rate of 156bpm and came from an egg from my right ovary.

The cramps I was having - which were definitely "first day of heavy period/take lots of painkillers and stay in bed with a hot-water bottle" rather than "mild" or even "moderate" have disappeared too.

I'll be back later - just wanted to share the good news and say thanks.

Lurking a bit to see how all the pregnant and TTC gals are doing and thought I'd stop in briefly...

(((Michelina))) I can't add anything to what's already been said here, but I guess I just want to chime in and let you know you're in my thoughts...and to do whatever you need to do for YOU. I still believe there is a baby in your future, just wish you didn't have to go through everything you're going through. Hugs to you.

funny, congratulations on the pregnancy....and good thoughts going out to you for your appointment. The aches and pains of early pregnancy are really weird and so much is normal that seems that it shouldn't be normal...so you're good to be vigilant but try not to worry too much. Good thoughts for you and the bean!

zelda, can't believe you're at 31 weeks already! Just wait...when you get to 37 weeks you'll be like, "Crap, I could technically deliver at any time now, better get on all those projects!" And if you're anything like me, you'll find yourself falling asleep on the couch at 9 p.m., unable to get anything done. My advice: get as much rest as humanly possible. My childbirth class teacher had us "practice" taking/increasing our nap times through the week (good practice for sleeping when baby sleeps, and gives you much-needed rest). She also pointed out that even if we had nothing ready for baby, it would still be OK - the hospital usually has most of what you need there, and the only thing you technically need is the car seat! (And even that can be purchased by family or friends while you're in the hospital...my mom and I did that for my brother and sister-in-law when my nephew was born). I felt totally disorganized but it actually created a great opportunity to let my family/friends do stuff for me - my mom organized my baby clothes for me, my sister made a kajillion meals for the freezer, and other friends cleaned our house while we were in the hospital. People want to help and though it's hard to relinquish control, it's kind of helpful to let them focus on external tasks like that so that you can spend time getting to know Elliot.

aphelendra, I think my foot swelling may have started at the same time as yours. By the end my feet were horribly swollen, but I never developed preeclampsia (thank goodness). In addition to more water and putting your feet up, other things that helped were wearing support hose, reducing my salt intake, and taking a hot bath at night. Oh, yeah, and if you haven't already, invest in a pair of comfy shoes that are nice and wide - avoid pointy toes and any kind of strap action over the top of the foot, as it makes the swelling worse. It took over a month postpartum for my feet to not look like ginormous sausages, and another couple months to be able to wear my pre-pregnancy shoes (some women go up a size permanently, so I was thankful not to have to replace my shoe wardrobe). I did luck out in the nausea department (none at all - and it is genetic, my mom had no nausea in her first two pregnancies) so I figured the foot swelling was a small price to pay.